Skewes of Cury.

[pmac]

Lets see if we can't get some movement on the Kerrier Board :-)

Looking for some info on the following Ancestors :

Edward Skewes probably born around the 1660's married an Elizabeth

Possibly had a son James chr : 8 May 1681 Cury, Cornwall.
Definitly had a son William chr : 13 Jul 1690 Cury. married Avise Row 24 Jun 1718 Gunwalloe and a son Edward Skewes born : 11 Feb 1696 Cury. married Anne Beele 10 Nov 1723 Gunwalloe. ( my many x gt g parents) I have 4 girls listed to Edward and Anne..1.Anne 1 Nov 1724, Cury. married James Bouden (my line)...2.Mary 3 Nov 1728, Cury...3. Elizabeth 2 Jan 1731, Cury...4.Blanch 8 May 1737, Cury.

Any help would be appreciated as i've exausted my resources. According to a family source this Skewes line has been at Cury since the 1300's.
With Thanks.

[Cornish Terrier]

The old 'family source' hmmm! And did this 'family source' provide any source material for the claim to 1300s residence at Cury?

I do not doubt the possibility that there were people of this name in Cury quite early but the earliest I could attest to with any certainty is an Edward Skewes who signed the Protestation Return at Cury in 1641. And Edward was the only Skewes to sign indicating he may have been the only male member of the family in that Parish of the age of 18 or over.

I would think there is probably a link between this Edward and the two Skewes, Henry and Edward, who were baptising children at Cury from the 1680s but the only way to prove that might be if there is a surviving Will.

The first volume of Parish Registers that survives for Cury commences in 1690. The only other source of BMBs for Cury earlier than that are the Bishops Transcripts which only date from 1676.

The BTs for Cury have been transcribed and the information is available on the OPC site but the only male Skewes marriage prior to 1700 is that of Henry who married Elizabeth Pearce in 1683.

It should be noted that the BTs generally do not cover every year and the FamilySearch catalog shows that coverage for Cury is:-

1676-1677, 1681-1688, 1693-1698, 1700-1701, 1704-1705, 1708-1737, 1742-1772

Wills would seem to be the most likely source of any information that might help answer your query.

CT

[lipkatatar]

Early members of the Skewes family at Cury include:

"Johannes Skewys arm. de Skewys in Cury" Sheriff of Cornwall 1521.(The history of Cornwall: Volumes 4-7 - P 109, Richard Polwhele)
"Member of Lincoln's inn 1518 ; A Member of the household of cardinal Wolsey and acted as Deputy for him when he was lord chancellor ; Had lease of tolls on tin in Tewington, Tywarnhayle and Helston i Kirrier; Had the privilege of wearing his hat in the king's presence." (Bibliotheca Cornubiensis) He was involved in a famous court case in 1544 when M.P. William Trewynnard escaped jail for a £75 debt to him by claiming Parliamentary Priviledge.

John Skewys, son of John Skewys and daughter of Andrew Ferrers of Trelowarin. MP for Helston 1397.(History of Parliament Online).
"7 June 1437, Helston; to John Skewys and Marina his wife, for divine service in the presence of either or both of them in any suitable place in their house at Skewys in the parish of St Corantinusi [Cury]." (The register of Edmund Lacy: Bishop of Exeter, 1420-1455)

There is also a reference to an Odo de Skewes from the time of King John.
"R[obert] {Robert de Cardinan} granted to Osemunda {wife of Pharamus de Walesbrawuse} the manor of Walebrawuse & the manor of Lameinwal & ...... which Odo de Skewiot (Skewes) holds with the whole service of the said Odo in Treseder, to have & to hold to the said Osemunda during her life, of the said Robert by name of dower. For this Osemunda remitted and quit-claimed to Robert and his heirs all the right and claim she had in the remainder of the premises by name of dower." 1206/7. (Cornwall feet of fines: Volume 1. p19).

Jim.

[pmac]

What other than he's the current owner/occupier/Descendant of the family estate at Cross Lanes Cury? I rang him hoping there would be a surviving family bible but it doesn't go back far enough :-(.

I did find a reference in a book called "The Cornish Family" by Bernard Deacon to a Thomas Skewes of Cury 1524 page 103. Also a John Skewys of Skewes in Cury, was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1521.

Will see If I can find a Will...The hunt goes on.

[pmac]

Found more.

MANOR OF RESKYMER - MENEAGE.
Her' Tremayn + Trefalserowe. Md. That John Skewys sold the ward & Marriage of Margery Nanskylly Cosyn ( cousin ) & heir of
John Tremayn unto Raynald Tretherff for the land that she held yn Trefalserowe that ys to saye one acr' of the sayd man' of Maneke
Reskym' by Knyghts Sr'ys & one acr' yn Tregelest. Anno Regis Henrico Octavi (1509 - 1547).
NOTE.
John Skewys was born at Cury Nr Helston in 1467, and trained as a Lawyer in London from 1484. Skewys had as a younger man,
entered the service of Cardinal Wolsey as a Lawyer. He survived Wolsey’s arrest for treason in 1530 and his business interests
prospered both in London and Cornwall. The wealthy heir of the Reskymer family became his stepson and he held substantial
interests in Tin-mining. In Cornwall he operated from the old Reskymer home of Merthen Manor in Constantine Parish.
William Trewynnard M.P. for Helston 1542 was imprisoned for a debt of £75 to John Skewes and released by the Sheriff, Richard
Chamond upon receipt of a writ of privilege from the King…… (Skewys died 1543 London)

and this:

CORNWALL A10388
Letter of attorney by John Trevarthian to John Gerveys, Master Stephen Gerveys, Thomas
St Austell ‘clerk’ and Gregory Carlunyek to deliver seisin to John Tremayne, James Gerveys,
John Urban, JOHN TRETHEWN, John Skewys and JOHN TRETHEWN the younger of the
Manors of Merthyn Rosewyk, Trevarthian and Treskewes with the advowson of the churches
of Landewednack, Ruan Major and Ruan Minor with the rents and services of free tenants
to the said manor belonging and of lands & Cin Chymeder, Sensewana, Gvylles and Leyty
and in his charter there of to the said Tremayne and the others made.
Sunday after the Ascension.
22 RICHARD 11 (1399)

[lipkatatar]

There is a wealth of deeds and charters relating to the early Skewes/Skewys family freely available on the internet. The problem you are faced with will be in trying to find documentation linking the medieval family with the later Skewes who appear in the Parish Records.

One interesting early member of the family was the John de Skewys who, in 1342, sued the Prior of Launceston over a claim of "corrody" for free board and lodging at the Priory, with an en-suite beer supply. [Alfred Robbins. Launceston, past and present; a historical and descriptive sketch. p 388. Available online as "ebook"]

I came across a disturbing reference to the culinary tastes of the Skewes family in the Illustrated London Gazette for 16 Aug. 1851. ""The Spaniards had their bull-flghts, and the people of the island of Skewes, in Cornwall, ate rats smothered with onions. It was the same with frogs in France..." Is this the original recipe for Cornish pasties?

Jim

[pmac]

Thank you for your input Jim, fleshes out the early background a bit and Establishes the credibility of my distant cousins claim.

Trying to put the descent into an unbroken line will be most difficult indeed.

I definitely don't have my ancestors culinary tastes Ewww!

[lipkatatar]

Your Skewes ancestry potentially goes far beyond having a known ancestor living in the 14th century. Matthew Skewys, M.P.for Helston in 1407 and brother of John, M.P. in 1397, was married to a daughter of John Trevery who could trace his descent back to King Henry I through the powerful Beville, Arundell and Pomeray families.

The mother of Matthew and John Skewys was descended from the Ferrers of Bere Ferrers. She had several lines of descent from King Henry I and included the Cardinan and Champernoun families in her ancestry.

Isolda de Cardinan, great grandmother of Matthew and John Skewys, inherited 71 "knight's fees" in Cornwall and was one of the richest women in England.

If you have descent from Matthew or John Skewys then you would be a 20th cousin of the current Queen of England (and the current Prime Minister) and related to probably most of the aristocratic and "establishment" families of England.

[pmac]

That's an Impressive background I'll admit but not so easy to try and find a connection from them to Edward, I'm not even sure where to start, the only Skewes will I can find is in 1777 ish, but none before then.